1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information service terminal for receiving information from a computer network such as the Internet, and more particularly to an information service terminal capable of selecting one, at a time, of a plurality of information services and displaying information from the selected information service.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With rapid advances in the computer network technology, it is now possible for network users to acquire a wide variety of information as desired from computer networks. One form of information acquisition from computer networks is the WWW (World Wide Web) service available on the Internet. On the Internet, there are addresses known as URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) assigned respectively to information documents referred to as Web pages. When the user inputs the URL assigned to a desired Web page on the Internet, the user can access the Web page through the WWW service. Access software used by Internet terminals for enabling the users to access and display Web pages is generally called a WWW browser.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a process of operation of a conventional WWW browser for inputting a URL and accessing a corresponding Web page. It is assumed that an Internet terminal used by the user is connected to the Internet when it is connected to an Internet provider through a modem apparatus. Typically, the Internet terminal comprises a personal computer in which the application software of the WWW browser is installed.
First, the user inputs the URL of a Web page which the user wants to read through a keyboard. The WWW browser determines whether the URL is inputted through the keyboard or not in step 501. If the URL is inputted through the keyboard, then the WWW browser acquires the inputted URL from the keyboard in step 502 and then transmits the URL through the modem to the Internet in step 503. In step 504, the WWW browser receives a Web page data indicated by the URL from the Internet in step 504. Thereafter, the WWW browser displays information of the latest received Web page data on the display unit in step 505, and then returns to step 501.
The user may designate a URL through a process other than the process using the keyboard. For example, the user may register, in advance, a list of URLs on an address book, and then use a pointing device such as a mouse on the address book displayed on the screen to indicate a desired URL from the address book. When the user uses the address book, the user uses a mouse or the like to select an address book command and then selects a desired URL from the address book with the mouse or the like. Since the list of URLs is usually too large to be displayed within a full-screen image, the user needs to scroll the displayed address book until a desired URL is displayed for selection.
A process of using the address book to select a desired URL is as follows: If no URL is inputted through the keyboard in step 501, the WWW browser determines whether there is an input from the mouse or not in step 506. If there is no input from the mouse, then the WWW browser returns to step 501. If there is an input from the mouse, then the WWW browser determines whether the input from the mouse is an address book command or not in step 507. If the input from the mouse is not an address book command, then the WWW browser goes to step 509 and processes in step 509 another command as the input from the mouse, after which the WWW browser returns to step 501. If the input from the mouse is an address book command, then the WWW browser reads a URL which the user has selected with the mouse in step 508, and jumps to step 503.
General information services other than the WWW service on the Internet include center-to-end type personal computer communication services or BBSs (Bulletin Board Services). Generally, information items available through the personal computer communication can be called in by following a hierarchical menu tree. Conventional communication software for personal computer communication terminals transmits characters inputted from keyboards simply through modems to the center of personal computer communication services. FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings shows an example of the structure of a service tree of personal computer communication services.
If the user wants to call an electronic conference service relative to,t for example, "XYZOS" which is a typical OS (Operating System), the user inputs a command "GO FXYZOS" to call a XYZOS forum as indicated by a character string 520 in FIG. 2. The center of personal computer communication services then transmits data of a submenu in a layer to the user's personal computer terminal. The user's personal computer terminal displays on its display unit the transmitted submenu as indicated by a character string 521. The user selects the electronic conference service from the submenu by inputting a selection number "3" for the electronic conference service through the keyboard as indicated by a character string 522. The center of personal computer communication services transmits data of a submenu in a layer which is below the submenu indicated by the character string 521. The user's personal computer terminal displays on its display unit the transmitted submenu as indicated by a character string 523. If the user selects "`Opinion` Online Software Information Forum `Application`" from the submenu, then the user inputs its selection number "3" through the keyboard as indicated by a character string 524. The center of personal computer communication services further transmits data of a submenu in a layer which is below the submenu indicated by the character string 523. The user's personal computer terminal displays on its display unit the transmitted submenu as indicated by a character string 525. If the user selects "Read" from the submenu, then the user presses the carriage return key on the keyboard as indicated by a character string 526. The characters "CR" of the character string represent "Carriage Return". Now, the service which allows the user to read the conference minutes called in, and the user's personal computer terminal displays on its display unit appropriate information as indicated by a character string 527.
Some software for personal computer communication includes macro functions to register a plurality of command character strings as a macro. When the user calls a certain service or item using such a macro function, the user selects a macro execution command with the mouse or the like, and then selects the macro of the desired service from a displayed list of macros.
On the Internet, a vast number of Web pages are currently available and frequently updated. The user needs to frequently read pages of Web sites of interest in order to determine whether they are updated or not. According to the present browsing technology, if the user wants to successively read 1000 Web-pages, for example, everyday to look for those Web pages which have been updated and contain additional interesting information, then the user is presently required to either input corresponding 1000 URLs through the key-board or repeat 1000 times a process of selecting an address book command with the mouse or the like and selecting a URL from the address book. Therefore, insofar as the user relies upon the present browsing technology, it is time-consuming and impractical for the user to repeatedly browse a number of Web pages everyday.
In the personal computer communication services or the BBSs, information is also frequently added to and updated in the menus. If the user wants to successively read 1000 menus, for example, everyday to look for those items of information which have been updated and contain additional interesting information, then the user is presently required to either input command strings for calling the respective 1000 menus through the keyboard or repeat 1000 times a process of selecting a macro execution command with the mouse or the like and selecting the macro of a desired menu from a list of macros. Such repeated sequences are also time-consuming and impractical.
When the user uses information services in a plurality of categories, e.g., the Internet and the personal computer communication service, the user needs to have as many different access software programs as the number of the information services. Since it is necessary for the user to select and execute those access software programs as well as the above browsing sequences for the respective information services, the overall operation is further complex and time-consuming.